March 21, 2013, 11:17AM

Bill Hightower, Alabama’s newest state senator, was elected by Mobile County voters on March 13 in a race that demonstrates why Alabama should do away with primary election runoffs. Hightower won the seat in a runoff that followed the Jan. 29 GOP primary, in which he led a field of three candidates by capturing about 46 percent of the... Full story »

March 14, 2013, 9:49AM

Why do we own guns? The answer has changed dramatically over the past two decades, and it suggests that the current debate over how to reduce gun violence won’t be solved any time soon. Roughly half (48 percent) of gun owners said protection was the main reason they owned a firearm, according to a national survey released Tuesday by... Full story »

May 21, 2012, 6:03AM

Editor's Note: The Political Skinny is an inside look at Alabama politics prepared by the staff of the Press-Register. For more information, e-mail skinny@press-register.com or call 251-219-5623. Full story »

May 02, 2012, 4:06AM

The secret to pulling off an election upset? Wear comfortable shoes. That’s according to Republican candidate Jerry Carl, who said he wore out three pairs of shoes campaigning for the Mobile County Commission’s District 3 seat. Carl defeated incumbent Mike Dean, who’d held the position for 12 years, in a runoff election April 24. He said he knocked on... Full story »

April 24, 2012, 5:09PM

No gold stars for Ken Feinberg from U.S. Rep. Jo Bonner — at least, not yet. Feinberg told me in an interview Friday that his work on the Gulf Coast Claims Facility was "vindicated" by an audit released last week by the U.S. Department of Justice. Bonner, one of Feinberg’s toughest critics in Congress, said he wants to see... Full story »

April 23, 2012, 6:11AM

Editor's Note: "The Political Skinny" is an inside look at Alabama politics prepared by the staff of the Press-Register. For more information, e-mail skinny@press-register.com or call 251-219-5623. Full story »

April 16, 2012, 6:18AM

Editor's Note: "The Political Skinny" is an inside look at Alabama politics prepared by the staff of the Press-Register. For more information, e-mail skinny@press-register.com or call 251-219-5623. Full story »

April 14, 2012, 6:12AM

Some plain truths on Trayvon Martin case There has been a lot of frustration in my African-American community surrounding the death of Trayvon Martin. I have heard European-Americans refer to him as a “thug,” and I heard a local deejay saying he was disappointed that Trayvon’s case was getting so much more national publicity than a case in Mississippi... Full story »

April 09, 2012, 5:10AM

Editor's Note: The Political Skinny is an inside look at Alabama politics prepared by the staff of the Press-Register. For more information, email skinny@press-register.com or call 251-219-5623. Full story »

March 26, 2012, 6:17AM

Editor's Note:The Political Skinny is an inside look at Alabama politics prepared by the staff of the Press-Register. For more information, e-mail skinny@press-register.com or call 251-219-5623. Full story »

March 21, 2012, 5:35AM

It was an election night bombshell and a political comeback story for the ages. Roy Moore's triumph in the Republican Party primary for chief justice of the Alabama Supreme Court is still reverberating across the state. Full story »

March 19, 2012, 6:08AM

Editor's note:The Political Skinny is an inside look at Alabama politics prepared by the staff of the Press-Register. For more information, e-mail skinny@press-register.com or call 251-219-5623. Full story »

March 12, 2012, 5:57AM

Editor's note: The Political Skinny is an inside look at Alabama politics prepared by the staff of the Press-Register. For more information, email skinny@press-register.com or call 251-219-5623. Full story »

March 05, 2012, 6:20AM

Editor's Note: "The Political Skinny" is an inside look at Alabama politics prepared by the staff of the Press-Register. For more information, e-mail skinny@press-register.com or call 251-219-5623. Full story »